


To Protect Family

by DarkJediQueen



Series: Just Write Trope Bingo 2020 [16]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence AU, Everyone lives, Friends to Lovers, Just Write Trope Bingo 2020, M/M, One-Shot, Scott McCall is a Bad Friend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:21:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26712106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: It's all Derek ever wanted to do, protect his family but he had failed once before. He wasn't going to do it again, especially when Stiles is cursed.
Relationships: Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale
Series: Just Write Trope Bingo 2020 [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1803853
Comments: 34
Kudos: 531
Collections: Just Write! Trope Bingo





	To Protect Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LittleBozSheep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleBozSheep/gifts).



> **Year** : Future  
>  **Spoilers** : Everything  
>  **Notes** : This is a completed One-shot. There will be no more written in the universe. Prompts come from the Just Write Discord Server's 2020 Trope Bingo challenge. For the prompt: Friends to Lovers.  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

"Everyone okay?" Scott called out as he looked around where the Pack was spread out.

Derek frowned at him and cursed him silently in his head. He looked at where Stiles was still leaning against the tree after the Witch had hit him with a spell that had glowed red. It had carried him back into the tree. Stiles held up a hand with a thumbs up, but Derek didn't like the way he was breathing. Derek didn't like any of it, and he knew that he would get yelled at for killing the Witch. He really didn't care.

"You okay?" Cora asked as she dropped down beside Stiles.

"Yeah," he said as he rubbed at his throat. It sounded like he had a sore throat. The red spell had gone into his mouth when Stiles had inhaled. Derek had seen the mist going in there.

"Is your dad home tonight?" Derek asked.

"Dude, what the hell?" Stiles asked.

Derek just glared at him.

"No. He's in San Francisco for that big meeting. He's gone all week."

"Then you are coming back to the loft with Cora and me."

"Why? I'm fine."

"You don't sound fine," Isaac said.

"Fuck you," Stiles said, and he started to cough. It sounded like a horrible cold, and when he coughed the last time, the red mist came out of him.

"Nope, you are coming back with us," Peter said.

"Ah, Uncle Creeper does like me." That time it sounded like Stiles had just spent three days talking straight.

Derek looked at Scott, who wasn't even paying attention to them. He was talking to Allison, who had been on the perimeter. Derek shook his head as Liam ran up to Scott next. It was only Derek and his original Betas, as well as his family that was over and talking to Stiles. Of the three Humans who had been in the fight, Stiles was the only one who had been hit. Lydia had been at the far side to throw the Witch back, and Allison had been on the other side. Derek sneered and stopped when Cora hit him.

"Nothing's going to change," Cora said.

"Yeah." Derek looked down at Stiles, who looked a lot like he was going to pass out at any second.

"I've got him," Boyd said. He tapped Stiles on the shoulder, and Stiles nodded his head. Boyd picked up Stiles and cradled him to his chest. His head dropped down to Boyd's shoulder, and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"I'll drive the Jeep," Cora said.

"I'll go with them," Peter said.

Derek nodded at Peter and gave him a grateful look.

"Isaac, Erica, with me," Derek said.

The duo nodded. They all lived in the building. Derek had finally ended up getting it totally renovated into loft apartments, and after the Pack had come home from college, Derek's part of it had moved in. There were a few other Supernatural families that rented places, and while Derek charged his Pack, he didn't charge them near as much as he had the others. Stiles was the only one who didn't live there. Stiles lived with his father, and Derek wasn't all that sure that it was something that Stiles wanted. He got the feeling that Stiles stayed so that his father wasn't alone.

Noah was a tangential part of the Pack, helping when he needed to but mostly just leaving them to do what they did best. Chris worked with him more than anything to cover up the crimes committed by a person that the Pack had dealt with so that it wasn't a black stain on the department like it had been before.

Derek texted Chris the GPS location of the Witch's body, and he would take care of it. It would probably be burned in the house she was renting. The place looked like it was one step from being a burn risk anyway.

"I'll make sure that the cause of death is ruled smoke inhalation," Lydia said.

Derek nodded his head as she passed by. Having her in the ME's office for the area helped a lot. Stiles was a crime scene tech. They had a good hold on the area to make sure that everything Supernatural was dealt with as best as they could.

"Let's roll," Derek said.

* * *

"Calm down!" Peter yelled.

Derek shot up in bed and looked around. He found that he was alone, which wasn't how he had fallen asleep the night before. Derek had made Stiles sleep in bed with him. It wasn't that strange as they had done it more than once. Cora and Peter both lived with him, and it was only a three-bedroom loft. Stiles hated sleeping on Derek's couch, so he had bullied his way into bed with Derek once and just hadn't left.

Peter's library was housed here, and that meant that it was where Stiles was for research. He was slowly building his own form of Bestiary. New creatures were added as they came across them. It helped when they fought something again.

Derek wandered out into the living room where Stiles and Peter were. Stiles was in front of the computer while Peter had a book in his hand. Stiles looked and smelled freaked out.

"What's going on?" Derek asked.

"Stiles' voice is gone," Cora said. She entered the living room from the kitchen area and dropped a coffee cup off in front of Stiles. She had one in her hand for herself. "Stiles is freaking out because he can't type as fast as he is thinking and Peter's being an asshole."

Derek looked at Stiles, who looked even more freaked out. Derek could understand that. Most spells were not reversible once the person who cast it was dead. It was like the spell was stuck. Even Derek and his limited knowledge of magic told him that. Now he felt bad about killing her, but he had seen red when Stiles had been thrown into the tree.

"Stiles, calm down."

Stiles flipped off Derek, and it was when his eyes actually looked at Derek that he realized what was going on.

Derek jumped over the chair in his way, and then he was there with his hand on Stiles' abdomen. He pushed inward, and Stiles exhaled. Derek controlled Stiles' breathing using that method. He said nothing, but with his free hand, he cupped the back of Stiles' head.

"I didn't realize," Peter said.

"It's fine. You've never been around him during a panic attack. Usually, he's constantly muttering during it, freaking out. You don't know the signs, but now you will." Derek had been through a few with Stiles in the aftermath of the Nogitsune and Scott all but leaving him to deal alone. Noah had called Derek a few times before Derek just started to stay with them for a few weeks as Stiles got used to not sharing his body, and the nightmares got less.

Peter nodded his head, and he looked less pissed off and more upset. Derek knew that only a few knew about the panic attacks. The Sheriff had told him that Stiles hadn't liked anyone to know, and it had taken years for Stiles to tell Scott about them. Though it had only been because Stiles knew what to do when Scott has a panic attack while being a werewolf. Derek had his fair share of them after the fire, and Laura had been the only one to help with them. Until Stiles.

Stiles was moving, his hands at least, and it took a few seconds to Derek to realize that he was not just flailing with his hands. He was signing.

"Water," Stiles said with his hands.

"Cora, get Stiles a glass of water, please."

Cora set her coffee down and headed to the kitchen to get the water. It was easy to understand that both Cora and Peter were worried about Stiles.

Derek finally looked back at Stiles to see him staring at Derek. Derek held up his hands and wiggled them. He grinned, and Stiles just looked at him, confused.

"I know sign," Derek signed at him.

Stiles' eyes blew up, and he got a grin on his face. He started to sign very, very fast. Derek reached out and laid his hand over one of Stiles'.

"Slow," Derek said aloud.

"How do you know sign language?" Stiles signed slowly. It was still faster than Derek was used to.

"When I was in New York, I had a person I worked with who was Deaf. She taught me some, and I learned the rest on my own. I practice a few times a week to make sure that I remember most of it. You?"

"Kindergarten, I had a kid who was Deaf in class. He left around our fifth-grade year, but we were pretty chummy. Mom learned with me."

Derek nodded at that. He .looked at Peter, who was looking at Stiles with a little wonder on his face. Derek knew that Peter prized Stiles' intelligence. It was why Peter had been attached to Spencer before the fire. He had been training him to take over the lore of everything. Cora was going to be his replacement as left hand and Derek the right. The four of them were to be a good unit. It was why Derek did so well at being the second in command in Scott's Pack, even if he wasn't actually called upon to be that all that often.

"So calm down. You aren't voiceless," Derek said with his voice. He looked at Cora and Peter and saw them nod in agreement. "Go up and shower. You didn't before you went to bed last night. I have some clothes that should fit you."

Stiles nodded his head and looked at Peter before flipping him off. Derek wasn't sure that he wanted to know what was going on with that. Peter just laughed though, so Derek took it as something that meant that Stiles was feeling a little bit better.

"Call Parrish, Peter. Have him bring anything in the Witch's place over here after it's out of evidence. We might be able to find the spell in her books and figure out what is going on."

"I'll head over to the station and talk to them about it. He's not going to be able to head into work. I'll see what we can figure out as far as leave is." Peter stood up and grabbed Stiles' coffee and drained it. He made a disgusted look but then drank the rest down.

Derek would have yelled at him, but Stiles wouldn't drink it and would want a fresh cup anyway, and the look of disgust at no sugar in the coffee made it all worth it. Derek watched him leave, and he knew that Peter was worried. It was all in the way he was acting. Going down to the station to talk when he could have just called. Cora was worried as well; she wasn't a total bitch to Stiles. Though they were both horrible to each other, it was mostly done with love. Derek had gotten used to it after they had returned from college. They had ended up going to the same place, and while Derek thought they would kill each other, there was a bond between them. There was one between all of the Hales and Stiles.

Derek though sometimes that there was something more than just friendship between him and Stiles, then Stiles would comment about someone else, and Derek would just keep things as they were. Ever since Derek had nearly died and had gone off with Braeden, Stiles had been his constant. The younger man had texted him a lot while he was gone and made sure to keep him aware of what was going on in Beacon Hills. Derek had come back as soon as Kate had been found and handled. The FBI had helped with that with Rafe McCall, headlining it once it was figured out that Kate was using a false identity to become an FBI agent.

Looking around the loft, Derek thought about the area needed to give Stiles what he needed to feel comfortable here. Derek wanted him to be, but he would have to go back to work at some point, and it wasn't like they could just say, hey, he's lost his voice due to magic, and he'll get it back. They would have to work out something as far as an injury went. Derek picked up his phone and dialed Scott. He laid his phone down and clicked it over to speaker, waiting for Scott to answer.

"Hey, Derek, is this important? Allison and I have breakfast planned."

Derek rolled his eyes. He didn't call Scott unless it was important.

"Stiles has lost his voice. We are pretty sure it was that spell that hit him last night."

"Okay, so he can research it, and he and Deaton can figure out how to break it. Is that all?" Scott asked.

Derek rolled his eyes and looked at Cora, who was looking at the phone with less shock than there should be. Derek wondered if any of them were ever going to be shocked. If it was Allison who was voiceless, Stiles wouldn't be looking hard or fast enough. Probably even Lydia as well. Yet, Stiles was the one who was kind of passed on because it was just Stiles. Derek had wondered more than once if Scott didn't like that Stiles was so close to the Hales. Derek had tried once to step back and help Scott and Stiles become friends again, but it hadn't helped, and Stiles had just been depressed for three months.

"What the fuck?" Cora mouthed as Derek looked at her.

Derek shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess that's it. Just let the Pack know to text Stiles instead of calling him."

"Can you do that?" Scott asked.

"Sure." Derek reached out and hung up, but he heard the call's disconnection at Scott's end before he could.

"I'll text in the Pack chat," Cora said. She walked back into the kitchen. "Waffles?"

"Please," Derek said. It was technically Stiles' turn to cook since he hadn't been there in a while. He was over enough to stay after a long fight or other that he was supposed to if he hadn't been in a while. Peter controlled that kind of stuff, but it wasn't like any of them were going to make Stiles cook with his issue. It wasn't that he couldn't, but it kind of felt wrong. He was dealing with a fucking curveball at the moment and the fear that this was permanent.

Derek got up and headed up to his bedroom. He heard Stiles in the shower, and he couldn't tell what he was doing as Stiles always hummed when he showered or sang, but the humming was always going on when he was washing his hair and face. The singing came after that. Derek dropped onto his bed and then got up again, grabbing clothes for Stiles. He opened up the bathroom door and looked to see that Stiles had not. Derek dropped them onto the counter and didn't look at Stiles even though the temptation was there.

The glass in the shower was fully clear on the top half and frosted on the lower half. It was a temptation as Derek had never been in the room when Stiles was showering, but he wasn't going to be that kind of person.

Derek looked at his phone, where he dropped it onto the bed and sighed before grabbing it up. He walked over to the windows and looked outside at the rising sun as he dialed a number that he hadn't thought about for a long time.

"Beacon Hills area code, if this isn't a Hale, I'm going to send Hunters," the voice said. There was a pause, and then she went on. "I still might for the early call."

"Celeste, it's Derek Hale."

"And why are you calling me?" Celeste asked. Her tone was hard, but Derek knew that she was disappointed in him for how he allowed everything in Beacon Hills to be handled when he could have called her.

"I have a Witch who cast a spell, and it harmed one of my Pack. We didn't know it at the time, and I killed her. The spell was red, and it seems to have robbed him of his voice. He knows sign language, and I do as well. I'm just worried about us not being able to break the spell with her dead."

"Well, it can cause an issue, but you've gotta figure out what the spell was first. Did she say anything?"

"I didn't hear what she said due to another wolf howling, and then I was too angry, and I charged her. I ripped her throat out."

"Ah, the young man you like then. Well, my nephew lives in Beacon Hills, he's not part of the family in that way, but while he was in New York for college, I taught him some magic. I'm sure that Stiles will be more than willing to help you. He was very cagey about how he knew about it all. I assume that he found some of his mother's books from childhood."

"Stiles?" Derek asked. He looked at where the bathroom door was shut. The water had shut off while Celeste had been talking. Stiles was Celeste Gajos' nephew? That explained so much about Stiles and the changes in him after he had gone to college. Cora and Derek had talked about a few things, and Cora said that he had his own secrets from even her from his time in New York.

"Yes, yes. I know the name is horrible, but it's better than his real first name. I have no clue why Claudia settled him with our father's name."

"So, what are the chances of you coming to Beacon Hills?" Derek asked.

"For your little buddy who is injured? Fat chance."

"No, to help Stiles get his voice back."

"What?"

"Yeah, he didn't find out about werewolves from his mother's books. Scott was bitten by Uncle Peter when he was insane after killing Laura. He's the one who was hit with the spell, and he's currently freaking out about never getting his voice back."

"That little shit," Celeste said.

"It's practically his name."

"I'll work everything on my end, but he's not that willing to let me step in and fix things, Derek. He's got a lot of pride in him. He'll take your help. Once this is all over, I'll bring my husband, and we can do a formal visit among the Pack and my Hunters. He'll not care about that. He might be pissed that I know why he knew what he did."

Derek nodded his head. He had told Celeste about some of the things that had happened in Beacon Hills when he had run into her in New York while visiting Cora. Derek would marvel at Stiles, keeping the two sides of his life separate, but it wasn't that big of a shock, really.

"So which of Stiles' little friends got taken over by the Nogitsune?" Celeste asked.

Derek kept his mouth shut. He heard a dark chuckle from the other end of the line.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't ask stupid questions unless I want the answer. He and I will be chatting when I get there. Protect him, Derek. He's still a good soul on the inside, despite what everything that happened in Beacon Hills should have done to him."

"I will." Derek looked at the bathroom and focused his hearing on it. "He's getting dressed. I should go. You know my email and how to text."

"You got it. What am I on your phone as?"

"CG. I doubt he'll figure that out unless he snoops at the texts."

"Bye, Derek Hale," Celeste said right before she hung up so that Derek couldn't tell her goodbye back.

The bathroom door opened, and Stiles came out in the clothes that Derek had grabbed for him. He had a towel around his neck and looked lost. Derek dropped his phone to the bed and walked over to where Stiles was; he wrapped his arms around him and held on tightly. Stiles tucked his face into Derek's neck and squeezed so tightly that even Derek could feel a little pain from it. Derek cupped the back of his head, and Stiles all but went limp in his arms.

Stiles tapped on Derek's back, and he let go.

"Thank you," Stiles signed.

"You are welcome. Anything that you need, Stiles, just ask. You didn't ask for this. Peter's heading into the station to talk to Parrish and to make sure that we get a good look at everything that the Witch had in her place. I have a friend in New York doing some research as well. She'll give us what she can as far as help and promises to come and help if we need it." Derek knew that Celeste would come right now if she thought that Stiles wouldn't hate it.

"I need to email my Aunt and give her a heads up that I won't be calling for a while. She'll show up here if she thinks that something happened though. I might tell her that I hurt my throat and can't speak."

Derek laughed at Stiles' words. He was about to say something when his phone chimed. He looked at the bed and then back at Stiles, who waved toward it. Derek walked back and grabbed the phone. It was from Celeste and the name of a doctor in San Francisco who dealt with supernatural beings and would be a good place to start for an alibi for Stiles not being at work. Derek nodded his head at that, and he turned the phone around to show Stiles. There was nothing on the screen that would give away who it was. Derek's phone didn't display the numbers, and the texts before had just been a talk of the super moon that had happened not too long before and how good it had felt.

"You know where my laptop is," Derek said. Stiles didn't have any of his normal stuff with him.

Thankfully though, the research materials were all on a shared space online. No matter what, everyone could access it without having to worry about getting a drive from someone else or having out of date copies floating around.

"Let's get cracking," Stiles said before he waved toward the bedroom door.

Derek wasn't sure how long this was all going to take, but he hoped that the answer was simple, and they could get Stiles' voice back.

* * *

Derek entered the loft with Noah right behind him. It had been three weeks, and while the medical reasons why Stiles couldn't talk were still holding airtight to those who needed to be told a lie, Stiles wasn't doing well. The Hales were all still looking, but Scott and the rest of the Pack were pretty much giving it a forgone conclusion that Stiles was never going to get his voice back. Derek's Betas were still looking, but given the smell of sadness on them, they thought that Stiles was stuck like this, but they weren't going to stop looking.

"Hungry?" Noah called out.

It took Derek's eyes a few seconds to land on Stiles, who was sitting in front of the large windows at the back of the room. He had a book in his lap and a pair of headphones over his ears.

"Headphones," Derek said.

"Go get him. We can eat and then go over the stuff that his Aunt sent him."

"He's danced around the subject of his Aunt and how she knows about all of this."

"Well, it's Claudia's side of the family that she and her father renounced, I've found out. I didn't even know that she was part of this world until she moved to Beacon Hills when she was a child. Stiles had been shocked as hell when he found out when he went to visit her in New York when he went to college there. I think if it wasn't for Cora and not wanting her to be alone, he would have lived with his Aunt."

"She might have liked that," Derek said. Cora would have loved to have lived anywhere but the dorms the first year and then an apartment that wasn't the one that Stiles had chosen. The Hales and the Gajos were strong allies, and if it hadn't been for the fact that Derek hadn't wanted to have the Gajos die for them, he would have gone to Celeste as soon as he and Laura fled from Beacon Hills.

"I am not sure about that one," Noah said. He was smiling as he said it, though. He set down the food on the table and then headed over to where Stiles was. Noah walked a little louder than he normally would, and it drew Stiles' eyes to him. Stiles smiled as he looked at his father. He plucked the headphones down and started to sign a hello at him.

"Hello to you, too," Noah said. He dropped down to sit beside Stiles and took the book from his hand to look at it. He shook his head before grabbing a slip of paper and sticking it in the pages before closing it. "Arrakis can wait. We have dinner."

Derek shook his head. Stiles was reading for pleasure, which was something that was okay with Derek. He also knew that if Stiles was reading for pleasure, he had already worn himself out. He had today off of work as he had started back just earlier in the week. He had downloaded a good app on his phone to be able to talk to his co-workers and not have to write everything out. It was weird to hear the voice, but Derek had gotten used to it. Mostly when Stiles was around Derek, Derek was his voice, but he couldn't go into work with him all of the time. Though he really could if he wanted. Noah had given him paperwork about becoming an assistant to Stiles to help with fieldwork and such. He would be trained as a regular deputy, but he would go out with Stiles and other techs if they needed to go into the field, and it was dangerous. Mostly they didn't have that issue, but there were times that active crime scenes weren't the safest. It would give Derek the chance to help where he was needed, but he wasn't going out and being a full cop in his eyes. Derek wouldn't mind that, but he just didn't want to have to be on tap like that.

Managing the trust that he had didn't take up a lot of time, and maintaining the lofts was something that kept him busy, but it wasn't like it was something that he couldn't contract out to other people. Though Boyd might like to take that job in place of where he was working. The plans were all there in the back of Derek's mind. He could do a lot of good helping Stiles if this voice thing didn't get fixed. Derek was pretty sure Stiles would hate it, but he would get used to it.

Derek plated up dinner and got them all drinks. Stiles hadn't left Derek's loft, even after his father had come back from being gone, and Derek didn't have the heart to make him leave. In all, he really didn't want him to leave.

"So how goes the research?" Noah asked.

"Slow as hell. The books are all in language that I don't know, so I have to scan them and send them off to Celeste's people," Stiles signed.

Derek relayed the words to Noah like he had been doing since this had all started. Noah was picking up sign language, but it was slow going.

"I think that we found a spell that we might be able to try that will negate all magic done on someone unless it was a full curse. If it's a curse, then there is no way to break it without her being alive."

Derek hated some of the things he said like that. He hated giving them a voice. It was stupid and irrational, but he still felt that way.

"Well, the guys at the station are looking forward to hearing you ramble again. Even the ones who used to bitch about it."

Stiles laughed, there was no sound, but it was the way that his eyes lit up, his eyes crinkled, and the way his mouth moved that told Derek it was a laugh.

Dinner wasn't a quiet affair, but when Stiles was around, it never was. He told stories as much as he could, things he read about that day, and general things. They all ate their fill, and then it was just Stiles and Derek left. Peter was still gone, looking for information, and Cora was out somewhere. She had left a note saying she would be gone until late.

"Wanna watch a movie?" Derek asked.

Stiles nodded his head as he stuck the last dish in the drainer. There was a fight over the movie, but Stiles won like he always did, and so Derek was being subjected to Caravan of Courage. He remembered seeing it once when he was a kid, but it seemed that Stiles' love of Star Wars went to all Star Wars movies and not just the main set. Derek laughed as he looked at where Stiles was settled in on the couch with a too big blanket for him. Derek knew that he would be coxed underneath of the item at a later time and so he just settled in next to Stiles and pulled it over him. He grabbed the remote to control the TV while Stiles kept his whole body under the blanket.

The movie wasn't nearly as horrible as he thought it would be. It was for kids, and the effects were aged, but it was still a fun little story, and Derek figured it was part of why Stile had picked it. When it was over, Derek turned off the TV, and the only light in the loft was coming from the kitchen. He looked down at Stiles, who was curled into Derek like a giant teddy bear. It was moments like this that nearly broke him. Nearly broke Derek's resolve to just lean over and kiss Stiles. He wanted to know what those lips felt like pressed into his own. He could easily just do it while Stiles was asleep and never have to worry about Stiles finding out. Derek would never do that, though. It was like Stiles was awake to give consent, and Derek was all about that, even just for a simple kiss.

Derek looked out at the moon that was visible in the windows and then back down at Stiles to see that his eyes were open and he was looking at Derek. The look on his face was something that Derek was pretty sure was close to what his face looked like. Derek leaned in and brushed his lips over Stiles'. Stiles moved when the kiss broke, turning to where he was facing Derek at a better angle, and he leaned up for another kiss. Derek kissed back a little bit harder, more pressure, more lips. He turned to where he could press Stiles down into the couch. It felt good, the press of their bodies together. Derek never wanted this to end. He just wanted to kiss and hold Stiles for the rest of their lives.

The sound of the loft door opening had Derek leaning up to break the kiss. Stiles' eyes opened up, and he looked so content, so happy. Happier than he had looked since he had been made to be silent.

"Well, that's something I didn't expect," Cora said a few seconds later.

Stiles started to laugh, and he reached up to grab Derek's shirt and pull him down again.

"At least go to bed," Cora said, but the sound of her heading up the stairs had Derek wanting to stay right where they were. In the little nest made by them. He kissed Stiles again. Talking could come later when they were both more awake or at least not as sleepy as Stiles was at the moment.

Stiles yawned, his jaw cracking a little from it. Derek smiled at him before moving until they were side by side on the couch. The couch in the loft as huge, Stiles talked about getting lost in it more than once. Derek tucked Stiles into him and held on tightly, letting Stiles relax into him. Derek knew the moment.

By the time that morning came, Derek felt like he had conversely slept all night and not a wink at all, but he felt good. He had relaxed, at least.

"Not a dream," Stiles said after he nuzzled in at Derek's neck.

"Hmm," Derek hummed.

It was the stiffening of Stiles' body that alerted Derek to something being wrong. Then there was the crash of feet on the stairs and then Cora landing after she missed over half of them by jumping over the side.

"Say that again," Cora said.

"I said not a-" Stiles cut off, and he sat up, cracking his head into Derek's. "Ow, fuck."

"What did you two idiots do?" Cora demanded.

"Nothing. Well, I mean, we kissed, and it was a damned good kiss. We also cuddled and slept. We didn't have sex if that's what you think broke the spell. Who knows that the crazy lady did. She had so many romance books in her place. The Deputies are all pissed at having to look through every single one of them for writing of any kind to figure out why she went crazy and killed so many people. I can't help what she did. I can't even guess what part of what we did last night broke it either." Stiles' voice sounded raw already by the end of that, and he glared at Derek until Derek let him up off of the couch.

Derek kissed Stiles' cheek as he crawled over Derek.

"Do you have tea?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah. The kettle is in the cupboard below where the coffee pot is." Derek waited for Stiles to get fully off of him before he moved as well. Stiles went right to the kitchen.

"Call Peter and tell him. He's probably still going to stay out and keep making friends with a few magic users, but he won't have to worry too much. Though Stiles' voice could go away at any point." Derek rubbed his hand over his face and groaned. His body didn't like sleeping like he had, but the stiff muscles' pain was going away. He heard the water and decided to follow Stiles into the kitchen.

Stiles had a mug laid out, and there was a string hanging out of it. Derek walked up behind him and boxed him into the counter before flipping the tag to read the kind of tea. He wrapped his arm around Stiles' waist when he let go and pressed his lips to his shoulder, humming in contentment. It felt good, being close to Stiles like this.

"Don't leave," Derek said.

"What?" Stiles asked. He wiggled a little and then turned around in Derek's arms to look him in the face.

"I never did anything because I didn't want to lose you as a friend, Stiles. Now thought that you've stayed here, you've slept in my bed, been here with me for weeks, I can't-" Derek buried face into Stiles' neck and inhaled. "I can't let you go."

"I see. So you wanna go from kissing to living together on the same day?" Stiles asked.

"We are already living together before we kissed. This is just more official. If you really want to go back to living with your father, expect me in your bed every single night."

"Dad's made a comment in the last week that I needed to stay where I am. He said that he's talked to you about my nightmares and how I do not have them nearly as often. I feel safer. I feel happier. Even without my voice, I feel good here. You are my best friend, and I never thought that I would say that about anyone else again. Scott soured me on letting anyone close again, but all three of you fucking Hales got inside of me and never let go. I wanted to hate you all, but I couldn't." Stiles turned his head a little and nuzzled at Derek's head before he rubbed his nose up and down Derek's neck. As scent-marking went, it was something a little more intimate than Derek was used to for something that wasn't all that intimate.

"So is that a yes?" Derek asked.

"It's a maybe. Let's try. I don't want to just move in, and then this relationship just goes kaput because I have my voice back, and you can't stand me when I'm noisy."

"I liked you here before, and if I had known you wanted me, I would have made you stay long before."

"How could you not know? I just assumed you ignored the smell of me wanting you."

"After you got back from college, you smelled different; your age settled you. You've smelled like this around me since you got home. I've smelled you lusting after others. I didn't realize this was something more than just lust."

Stiles was silent as he pulled the teabag out of the cup and laid it in the sink. He lifted the mug and took a drink. A smell came over Stiles that was happiness. Derek wasn't sure if it was the tea or his throat or a combination of the two, but it was good. Derek waited for Stiles to set the mug down before he turned him around again to kiss him. Stiles leaned into the kiss and let Derek lead it, but fuck, it felt good.

Derek pressed him into the counter, and he kissed him hard. Derek wanted to pick Stiles up and take him away, to the bed where Derek could learn everything about him. Stiles smelled like freshly baked peach pie, and Derek found that he wanted to keep that smell around him. He gripped Stiles' waist and held on tight as the kiss deepened.

The sound of Cora moving around had Derek pulling out of the kiss. Derek looked at Stiles, and he saw the naked want there. He grabbed Stiles and lifted him, coaxing him to wrap his legs around his waist.

Stiles kissed him again, and it was only that Derek knew his place so well that he made it up to his room. He heard Cora leaving and was glad of it. Derek dropped him down onto the bed and stood above, looking like he wanted to be fucked into the mattress. Derek watched him strip naked, lay on his back, and bare his neck in the act of submission. Derek stripped his shirt off and crawled on top of him; he nipped at the skin of Stiles' neck and heard the gasp.

This was everything that Derek had wanted. To hear Stiles as they sought pleasure out in one another. To hear him moan as Derek slid inside of him. To feel his blunt human teeth mark Derek as his.

Derek laid on his side with Stiles tucked into him after they were done, his back against Derek's front. Derek had him pulled close and was content to breathe in the smell of them both as it lingered around them.

"I'm glad your voice is back," Derek said as he traced the skin on the back of Stiles' hand. He could feel the hairs on his skin as he played.

"Yeah, it wouldn't have been as good if you couldn't hear me scream in pleasure, huh?"

"Oh, I liked that, but it was the other bits, gasping and moaning that I loved more." Derek turned his head and kissed Stiles' neck. He could feel his skin slowly healing into a mating mark. He would have to complete Stiles' part of it at a later time, once they talked. Once they had figured out what they were going to do about everything. He could feel Stiles inside him, but there was no way that Stiles would feel him, not without Stiles taking Derek's bite.

"I'm hungry," Stiles said.

"Well, we can fix that easily. You have two choices, we can order in or go out. Everything here is too much to cook for me right now, and I don't want you away from me for that long."

"Then I guess we are ordering in. Want breakfast pizza?"

"Bacon," Stiles said.

"Of course."

Derek grabbed his phone and found the app for the pizza place that he loved. They made breakfast pizzas that were all the rage in the area. It allowed them to make money while they were also getting set up for the day. There was the delivery of the pizzas which Derek liked. He went ahead and ordered three pizzas to be dropped off that was just pepperoni as well, unbaked as Derek would cook them later.

"Are you happy?" Stiles asked as he looked at Derek's face.

"Yes. Happier than I have been in a long time. I was happy being your friend, but this, this is better and makes me really happy. I don't want to lose the friendship, though."

"Hmm, later after we eat, you can bite me." Stiles turned his head to where it was pressed down into the bedding. He seemed happy and content to just relax in bed while Derek ordered pizza.

Derek dropped his phone down. He would get an alert when the pizza was on its way and then when it got in half a mile. The ability for phones to track was nice for things like this. It made the delivery people getting to see people mostly naked less of a chance. Though for Derek, it wasn't something that he worried about. He would hear them coming.

"I love your bed," Stiles said.

"Yeah?" Derek cuddled down into him and enjoyed Stiles naked an in his bed.

"I really do. Sorry for biting you. It felt really good."

"Well, I'm glad it felt good. We can complete it at any other point. There doesn't have to be a rush. We can just be happy to be around each other until you are ready for the other side."

"Nah," Stiles said, and it sounded like he was half asleep. "Not fair." 

Derek grinned. Stiles was all about fair when it came to Derek. He wondered if that should have told him that Stiles wanted more a long time before because Stiles wasn't about being fair with anyone else ever. He would get what he wanted and leave. 

"I'll call Auntie tonight and let her hear my pretty voice."

"Did you want me to tell Scott?" Derek asked. 

Stiles made a humming noise and shook his head. He was nearly asleep, so Derek let him drift off the rest of the way. He debated doing it anyway but then decided not to. Stiles and Scott's relationship was their own. He frowned as he heard a chime from Stiles' phone. He grabbed it and unlocked it, the code coming to his fingers easily. He had seen Stiles enter it in a lot while others usually had to try and steal the phone from him to even get a good look. It was Scott asking Stiles to look up something. Derek dismissed it and just set about ignoring it. It wouldn't tell Scott that it was read, so he wasn't worried. That was a worry for later in the day. 

* * *

Derek looked around the theater, looking for where Stiles and Cora had slipped off to while he had been getting the tickets. He wasn't sure at all where they were. He tried to smell them out, but it was mostly the other people who were there for the movie and the smell of fresh popcorn. It was the same scent that all movie theaters had to him, even if the people inside were different—it kind of all mixed into a familiar scent. 

"Derek?" a voice called out.

Derek turned around to look at who spoke, and he saw that it was Scott. Who looked really shocked that Derek was there. Derek laughed and walked over to where Scott and the rest of his Pack were all standing around in line to get snacks. 

"Didn't think you were into the Star Wars movies all that much," Scott said.

"It's a family thing. I remember taking Cora to Episode 3 when it came out. She was too young to want to go to Episode 1, and she was too wrapped up in something else for Episode 2."

"So, are you here with her?" Scott asked.

A few of the Pack members were paying attention to them, but the rest were all talking about the food that they were going to get. Derek wondered if Scott was even aware that Stiles wasn't with them. Stiles, the one who was the biggest Star Wars fan of them all. 

"Yeah, as well as Peter and my boyfriend."

"Oh, you have a boyfriend? You'll have to bring him by to meet me before I allow you to tell him about the Supernatural." 

Derek scoffed at that, but Scott didn't notice it. Lydia did, and she raised an eyebrow at him. Derek didn't pay her any mind.

"Sourwolf!" Stiles yelled out 

Derek turned to look at him, seeing a lot of eyes turning to look at him. Then Stiles seemed to notice who he was talking to, so he started over toward them with Cora and Peter in his wake. 

"Didn't see who you were talking to. Here to see the new action flick?" Stiles asked Scott.

"No, actually, I'm here to see Star Wars."

"Ah, someone finally got you to see them?" Stiles asked.

"A few years back," Scott said like he was shocked that Stiles didn't know that.

Derek wondered if Scott even remembered all of the times that Stiles tried to get Scott to see Star Wars. 

"When did you get your voice back?" Lydia asked. Her eyes were narrowed in like she was trying to kill Stiles with a look.

"Three months ago? Der? Was it three months ago?"

"Four," Derek said. 

"Have you met Derek's boyfriend yet?" Liam asked.

Stiles laughed, and it drew Scott's eye to him. He frowned as he looked at Stiles. He looked really shocked that Stiles was laughing.

"I'm shocked that Derek's boyfriend is even going to the movies with Peter," Scott said.

"Why? I mean, what's wrong with Peter?" Stiles asked.

"Um, he's Peter?"

"He's Peter? That's your reasoning? Wow, dude. Wow." 

Derek laughed.

"Shouldn't you be finding your boyfriend? I think he got lost, or he just finally came to his senses and ran away from your family," Lydia said.

"Ah, there's the Queen Bitch that we all know," Stiles said.

Every single eye in the Pack turned to look at Stiles with that one. He was grinning though like he really hadn't noticed. He stepped up to her and leaned in close.

"And just for your information, I would never run away from Derek's family. Ever. They are the only ones who even give a shit about me. I mean, no one has contacted me except for wanting research in four months. I've not had a single one of you ask me about how the research is coming into getting my voice back. While Peter and Cora checked in with Derek or me every single day on that. Peter went away for weeks to try and find something to help me. Scott didn't even care that I had lost my voice in that attack since he was going to breakfast with Allison. There was no circling the wagons to help me."

There was a gasp, and when Derek looked at Allison, he saw the look on her face. She was looking at Scott and then at Stiles. Despite Stiles getting close, he made sure that even humans could hear what he said to Lydia. Stiles grinned as he pulled back and then kissed Derek on the cheek.

"Cora and I are going to get our seats. Try not to maim them that hard, love," Stiles said before he snagged Cora's hand and pulled her along with him as they left.

Peter stepped up to settle at Derek's side. It felt good to be so close to Peter with everything that was going on. Peter wouldn't hesitate to defend him if needed.

"Wait, Stiles is your boyfriend?" one of the Pack called out.

"Yes. For four months. It was us getting together that broke the spell. It seemed that the Witch thought that no one would ever love him, so she had the spell dependent on that. Stiles' Aunt helped us with it." 

Allison looked pale as hell at those words. 

"Who is Stiles' Aunt?" Lydia asked.

"No one who concerns you," Peter answered.

"If she knows about the Supernatural, I demand to know who she is," Scott said.

"You demand?" Peter asked.

"Scott, drop it," Allison said.

Derek wondered when Allison had found out about who Stiles' Aunt was. Or did Celeste throw her weight around with the two Argent Hunters? Derek would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation. 

"Why? I demand to know who they told about the Supernatural!"

"It doesn't matter who we told, Scott. There is no power you have that can stop anyone from telling anyone about it. You are the Alpha of Beacon Hills, but it's so much bigger than that. I would make sure not to piss off Stiles at all about anything going forward, or his Aunt will step him and deal with matters."

"So, you admit that you told his Aunt?" Scott asked.

Derek looked at Peter and raised an eyebrow. Peter got a sheepish look on his face and shrugged his shoulders. Derek wondered if this wasn't the first time that Peter had regretted going after Scott and biting him. 

"No, Scott. We didn't have to tell his Aunt. She's known about the Supernatural since she was born. Stiles' mother did as well, but she died before she could tell him. It seemed that their family of Hunters tell kids when they turn thirteen. His mother hadn't even told his father, so he was in the dark until everything happened in your sophomore year."

"His Aunt is a Hunter, and she knows about all of us?"

"Yes," Allison said.

Scott turned to look at Allison with a shocked look on his face.

"Celeste is a fair Hunter, though. She's never killed unless there is a reason, and she tries to rehabilitate as many as she can. They capture Omegas and find a Pack for them, and it's only if they don't make it work with five Packs that they were thrown in jail. There is usually a slew of crimes they had committed that they can be charged with, and then they are siphoned off to a supernatural prison."

"You knew this and didn't tell me?" Scott asked.

"Dad told me that I was not allowed to reveal anything that we talked about. The Argent hunting name is defiled, and she took us under her bubble. Do you think that the Packs we have been talking to have suddenly had a big change of heart, Scott? That they just magically forgot that your spouse is an Argent?" Allison asked. 

"I just assumed that they didn't care since you were married to me."

"Yeah, and that makes sense," Peter said.

Scott looked up at him.

"Celeste Gajos' name is the reason why we are meeting with as many as we are."

"They aren't nice about anything, though."

"That's because you refuse to meet them at least halfway," Derek said.

Scott looked at Derek and frowned at him.

"What do you mean?"

"You balk at every single aspect of their customs that they have followed all of their lives. I tried to teach you about the way to talk to them, you refuse. You think that because you are young and a True Alpha, everyone should do what you want, but that's not how it works. You were brought into this life against your will, but it's your life now, and you've clung to it. Soon all of those Packs will refuse to meet with you unless you actually try and learn about the world that you are a part of. It's like you are a Muggle-born who has come in and told the rest of the Wizarding World that everything that they do is wrong, and only your way is right, and you wonder why they refuse to listen to you." Derek knew that he was getting a little worked up, but after Stiles had pointed out what Scott was doing, even Derek could see it. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be in Scott's Pack anymore. He was going to piss off the wrong one at some point and get his Pack killed.

"Your eyes," someone whispered.

Derek looked at the Pack member at the back of the group before he looked at Peter. Peter's face was blank until he got a look at Derek. He swallowed and then grinned.

"Well, Stiles will love that," Peter said.

"Who did you kill?" Scott asked.

"Scott, his eyes were blue a few minutes ago, and now they are again. It seems that Beacon Hills might have another True Alpha soon," Lydia said.

Scott huffed and turned to leave, barking for his Pack to follow. 

Derek waited until they were all gone before he went to the bathroom closest to the theater they were in. It looked like Scott's Pack was in a different theater than them, and Derek was happy about that. He looked into the mirror and forced his eyes to flash. He saw the blue, and then he did it again, thinking about the same stuff that he had been thinking about. About protecting Stiles from being attacked because of Scott's stupidity. He saw the red. 

"Well, I guess that the three of us must think of you more as the Alpha than Scott. That and you are doing more to protect us than Scott," Peter said.

Derek looked into the mirror to see Peter leaning against the wall behind him. 

"Scott's going to get his Pack killed," Derek said.

"Agreed. The only hope is that word gets out about you becoming a True Alpha as well, and then we can mitigate it by offering to take in his Pack. If he doesn't have any Pack members left, he'll lose his Alpha power."

"That's not how that works," Derek said.

"It is for True Alphas. Deaton knows this, but I would assume that he's never shared it with Scott. Celeste knows, and I'm pretty sure that Stiles does as well. Celeste sent me a book on True Alphas, the accounts that have been found by Gajos members over the time they have been hunting. The only time it never fades is when a True Alpha is built because of a Pack that the Alpha is being abusive in, and then that new Alpha kills the former in the protection of the Pack, they get that Alpha Spark, and things change. They are forever an Alpha."

"I wasn't the best Alpha before," Derek said.

"You grew up, you learned from your mistakes. You've been an Alpha for Cora and me in all but power since we all came back to Beacon Hills, Derek. You can do this. I will help you instead of just leaving you floundering. We were all too full of anger and pain the last time. You gave up your power to save your sister; that doesn't count for nothing. You can do it this time, I promise you that." 

"Yeah." Derek looked in the mirror again, and this time when he flashed his eyes, they were red. "Don't tell Stiles, not until after the movie. He'll be too wired."

"We have that late meal planned with Noah. Best time to tell the three of them."

Derek nodded his head and pushed away from the sink. "Let's go watch a movie." 

Peter wrapped his arm around Derek's shoulder and pulled him along with him. Derek leaned into him a little more than normally would.

Stiles and Cora were seated in the best spots, and they were in the inside while Peter took Cora's side, and Derek took Stiles'. It felt normal, even though everything was on it's ass at this moment. He tried to settle in and enjoy watching the previews but he couldn't. Not until Stiles reached over and lifted up the armrest between the seats and cuddled into Derek's side. Stiles' smell so close, and Derek let his unconscious mind focus on that and help him settle enough to watch the movie and enjoy it. 

Life was gonna be weird for a little bit, but it was worth it. Derek could protect his family again.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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